Ethics and integrity in healthcare: Preventing abuse and promoting patient-centered care.

Abstract

This document highlights the importance of ethics and integrity in healthcare systems, based on four fundamental principles: respect for autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, and justice. The general objective of this study is to analyze the ethical challenges and the mechanisms necessary to prevent abuse and ensure patient-centered care. The methodology adopted for this research involved an in-depth literature review. Academic studies, reports from international organizations (such as the WHO and various NGOs), and press articles were examined. This research sheds light on the various abuses that compromise the quality of care and patient trust, such as financial fraud, lack of informed consent, discrimination, abuse of power, mistreatment, abuses in medical research, and data confidentiality breaches. It also identifies the root causes of these abuses, including lack of regulation, financial incentives, insufficient ethical training, and weak control mechanisms. These findings lead to the confirmation of the main hypothesis, which states that: the rigorous application of ethical principles and regulations in healthcare would reduce abuses and improve the quality of patient-centered care. Finally, the document proposes a comprehensive strategy to strengthen ethics and integrity, including legislative mechanisms (laws on patient rights, anti-fraud, data confidentiality, regulation of clinical trials) and ethical mechanisms (codes of conduct, continuous training, ethics committees, promotion of transparency). The goal is to ensure patient-centered care, where the patient is fully informed and involved in decisions regarding their health.